The present invention generally relates to central pivot irrigation systems and more particularly to implementing targeted irrigation using the central pivot irrigation system with a wireless sensor network. The series of practices implemented to accurately and effectively allocate water to growing crops may be generally referred to as precision agriculture. Precision agriculture may help reduce operating costs while simultaneously improving crop yield. Precision agriculture may include irrigation systems such as a central pivot irrigation system, which may be commonly used in current farming practices to allocate water and/or fertilizers to areas of land on which a crop may be growing. Central pivot irrigation systems are most commonly used in large farms with scattered field sites and multiple crops, especially because of their ease of operation and efficiency.
Central pivot irrigation systems may generally include a central tower, or pivot point, located at the center of the irrigating area and a rotating arm pivoting around the central tower at an elevated position above the ground. The rotating arm may include a pipe or conduit extending laterally across the rotating arm away from the central tower. Water and/or fertilizers may be sprayed from the pipe at predetermined points along the conduit in which sprinklers or nozzles have been located. The rotating arm may further include trusses or towers supported by wheels to maintain the pipe in the elevated position above the ground. As the rotating arm pivots around the central tower, water and/or fertilizers may be fed and sprinkled in a circular pattern.
Variability in field characteristics such as, for example, vegetation cover, soil moisture and canopy leaf temperature may affect the effectiveness of the central pivot irrigation system in determining when irrigation may be needed since equal amounts of water may be generally dispensed to the entire field. Also, determining the exact geospatial location where precision agriculture, including variable irrigation rate management, may need to be applied may pose a challenge to current farming practices due to the lack of a continuous monitoring system.